Originally Posted by
Leisesturm
<snip> Speed by itself isn't dangerous. <snip>
Sure. But speed is never "by itself". There is always something else involved. Another car, mechanical failure, road conditions, weather, etc. For instance I use to live across the street from a machinist who built and ran his own top alcohol dragster. While he helped up to hot rod our cars (400 ci small block in a Triumph TR7 for my friend) he also said that racing was for the race track. Years after he was no longer our neighbor we heard that he died while racing his dragster. His drag parachutes failed after deployment and he crashed into the netting at the end of the track. If the track would have been a lot longer, he'd have probably been fine. Even on a racetrack with only one other driver, there's always something other than just speed.